


i'll be there for you ( as the world falls down )

by pdoesart (elphie_jolras)



Series: they're talking about war on the radio [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Explicit Language, F/M, Gen, Movie Night, Never Have I Ever, Sebastian doesn't drink but he does have grape juice, Sexual Humor, There's a lot of swearing, everybody is shocked that sebastian is really laid back, hawke has so much vodka, real adults settle disputes via nose goes, sebastian is scarred for life by jareth's pants, the squad watches labyrinth, there's a group chat, this could probably be rated teen but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 14:25:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7511723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elphie_jolras/pseuds/pdoesart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Marian,” whispers Sebastian, “Is this what Anders was going on about?”<br/>She nods.  Anders makes a strangled noise.  “God,” he says, and either he doesn’t realize or doesn’t care that he’s just used the Lord’s name in vain in front of two devout Catholics, “It’s even more impressive than I remember.”<br/>“I think I’m going to have to pray,” Sebastian says.  “A lot.”</p><p>- OR -</p><p>the squad has movie night and ends up watching Labyrinth (and playing Never Have I Ever)</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'll be there for you ( as the world falls down )

**Author's Note:**

> most of the usernames are obvious, I think, but just in case:
> 
> devil_hawke: hawke  
> father-sebastian: sebastian  
> sparklefingers: anders  
> piratesbooty: isabela  
> mr_t: varric  
> f3nr1s: fenris  
> mer-bear: merrill  
> av_vallen: aveline 
> 
> there's also a LEGO movie reference

**devil_hawke added father-sebastian, sparklefingers, piratesbooty, mr_t, f3nr1s, mer-bear, av_vallen to the group**

**devil_hawke:** yo when are y’all free  
**father-sebastian:** I didn’t ask for this.  Why are you making me take part.  
**devil_hawke:** shut up apollo & tell me when ur free  
**sparklefingers:** is this safe? I mean, having a grouper with all of this city’s vigilantes?  
**av_vallen:** “This city” please, Hell’s Kitchen is ten blocks.  
**devil_hawke:** everybody’s a critic.  
**mer-bear:** ooh, is this about movie night?  
**mr_t:** movie night?  
**f3nr1s:** who changed my username?  
**sparklefingers:** I definitely didn’t do it while you were unconscious on my couch  
**devil_hawke:** HAH  
**devil_hawke:** but yeah merrill’s right it’s about movie night in fact

**devil_hawke named the conversation “movie night w the hero squad”**

**father-sebastian:** that’s not suspicious at all  
**devil_hawke:** oh shut up like you can do better

**father-sebastian named the conversation “Forgive Me Father For I Have Kicked Ass”**

**father-sebastian:** sorry what was that?  
**devil_hawke:** don’t be smug it doesn’t suit you.  
**devil_hawke:** anyway how does friday sound??? everyone??  
**mr_t:** sorry I have a date  
**devil_hawke:** well fuck off then.

**devil_hawke removed mr_t from the conversation**

**piratesbooty:** lmao  
**f3nr1s:** Isabela since I stopped you from getting shot can I have a free coffee  
**piratesbooty:** give me a kiss and I’ll think about it :*  
**devil_hawke:** what kind of emoji is that  
**piratesbooty:** it’s a kissy face!  
**devil_hawke:** uh huh sure  
**piratesbooty:** ugh  
**f3nr1s:** should we add varric back in?  
**devil_hawke:** meh

**devil_hawke added mr_t to the conversation**

**devil_hawke:** is friday good for everyone else?  at like 6?  i figured we’d order pizza or smth  
**mr_t:** I can’t believe you kicked me  
**devil_hawke:** don’t be a baby  
**mr_t:** actually on second thought that totally sounds like something you’d do.  
**f3nr1s:** sounds good  
**piratesbooty:** yeah  
**mer-bear:** yup!!  
**av-vallen:** I have a date too  
**devil_hawke:** :( :( :( aveline nooooo  
**av-vallen:** Aveline yeeeeessss  
**mr_t:** what she doesn’t get kicked for having a date?  
**devil_hawke:** she’s MARRIED to the man she has a date with  
**devil_hawke:** and you’re having an affair with a married woman  
**devil_hawke:** it’s a completely different set of circumstances.  
**mr_t:** I can’t believe this is our friendship  
**devil_hawke:** I love you, varric  
**sparklefingers:** now im getting jealous  
**sparklefingers:** also im free  
**devil_hawke:** no worries honey, varric’s hopelessly in love w a crime lord’s wife  
**av-vallen:** Varric, you’re an idiot  
**mr_t:** wow thanks red really feeling the love.  
**father-sebastian:** adultery is a sin, Varric  
**father-sebastian:** Also Friday is fine.  
**devil_hawke:** good good  
**mer-bear:** what movie are we watching, hawke?  
**devil_hawke:** labyrinth  
**sparklefingers:** nO  
**sparklefingers:** WHY  
**f3nr1s:** why are you so upset  
**sparklefingers:** I CANT DEAL WITH THIS  
**mer-bear:** I love labyrinth!!  
**devil_hawke:** anders r u ok???  
**sparklefingers:** why r u doing this to m e  
**sparklefingers:** I can’t deal with david bowie  
**father-sebastian:** What’s wrong with David Bowie?  
**sparklefingers:** you’ll see  
**sparklefingers:** you’ll all see

-0-0-0-0-0-

The biggest argument of the night is not over the movie, amazingly.  It’s over the pizza.

“Pineapple!” Anders says.  Fenris recoils in horror.

“What sort of abomination are you?”

Anders grimaces at the word.  “Liking pineapple on pizza doesn’t make me an _abomination_.”

“I like pineapple,” pipes up Merrill.  Anders gestures emphatically, which makes Marian laugh.

“Merrill gets it!”

“You know,” Sebastian says, ever the peacekeeper (at least when _not_ doing vigilante things, because then he shoots a lot of people.  With arrows.  Occasionally while quoting the Bible – Mare should know, she’s fought by him before), “We can get more than one pizza.”

“I vote wings,” says Bela, pushing herself up onto Hawke’s counter.  Hawke flaps her hand in the dark-skinned woman’s direction.  Wings were always a definite.  You can’t have pizza _without_ wings.

“Barbecue wings?” asks Merrill hopefully, letting out a laugh when Fenris makes a disgusted noise.

“Why are so vehemently against these things?” Anders asks, folding his arms and frowning.  Marian leans over and brushes a kiss against Anders’ cheek because she _can_. 

“Barbecue wings,” Fenris begins, “Like pineapple on pizza, are an abomination.”

“You’re an abomination,” Anders grumbles.  Fenris frowns.

“Okay,” says Marian, “We’ll get one pizza with pineapple and bacon, and one half cheese, half pepperoni, sausage, onions, and peppers.  And sixty wings, thirty barbecue and thirty medium buffalo.”

“Can we add meatballs to that?” Isabela asks. She’s swinging her feet freely from her perch atop the counter.  Marian points at her.

“Only if you get your _ass_ off of my counter.”

Bela pouts.  “What’s wrong with my ass?  It’s gorgeous!”

“Off,” Marian repeats with a jerk of her hand.  Isabela, grinning, dismounts the counter.  Hawke turns towards her phone, which is lying on her table, and hears a noise of exclamation from her boyfriend, followed by a laugh from Fenris, who has apparently just thrown something at him.  Probably in retaliation for the abomination comment.

“No violence,” she says over her shoulder, before scooping up her phone and dialing the pizza place.

Piemaster’s doesn’t offer delivery, which means somebody has to go pick it up.

“Sebastian should do it,” says Bela, who has now taken up residence atop the table, “Nobody’ll mug a priest.”

“This _is_ Hell’s Kitchen,” Sebastian points out, though Mare suspects he just doesn’t want to pick up the pizza.  There’s an awkward silence for a moment as they all look at each other, wondering who’s going to offer to pick up the pizza.

“Nose goes?” Merrill suggests meekly, at which point everybody’s finger flies to their noses.  Including Sebastian’s, which Marian finds completely hilarious.  Anders loses, much to his chagrin.  But then Marian offers to go with him – because if anyone’s going to get mugged, it’ll be Anders.  Well, Merrill would probably get mugged too.  And Anders can _probably_ take care of himself.  But Marian offers to go anyway.

She’s a good girlfriend like that.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

They walk hand in hand to Piemaster’s, grab the pizza, and manage to get back to Marian’s place without being mugged.  Which is a complete shock.

(She makes Anders carry the pizza, because he _did_ lose nose goes.)

“I bring tidings of pizza!” Marian yells as they walk in the door, poking her head out from behind Anders and their four boxes of food.  Instantly, the group is on them like a pack of hyenas.  A noise of surprise escapes her boyfriend as all of the food is taken from him and then Marian jumps on his back.

“ _Mare_!” he exclaims, almost falling over but managing to wrap his arms around her legs and keep her up.  She giggles at him and wraps her arms around his neck, leaning forward to rest her chin on his shoulder.  “What are you doing?” he asks her with a grunt as he staggers forward, following their coworkers – _friends?_ – into her tiny kitchen.

“You’re my captive,” she laughs into his ear, breathing in the scent of aftershave and cologne.  He smells like cloves and hand sanitizer.  He laughs, too, and her heart feels lighter than it has in years.

“Is that so?” he asks.  She makes an affirmative noise, taking another deep inhale and filling her nostrils with his scent.  It’s kind of creepy, she realizes, but he’s _her_ boyfriend and dammit, she can smell him if she wants.  “Well,” he says, “Then why can I do this?”

And he runs for the couch, throwing himself backwards onto it and landing atop her.  She shrieks, suddenly smothered by the blond doctor, and manages to flail about with her arms – the only part of her body currently free.  “Help me!” she yells, though her voice is muffled by a curtain of golden hair, “I’m being crushed!”

In reality, Anders isn’t much heavier than she is; he’s got an inch or two on her, but she’s got muscle where he has… well, nothing, really.  He’s a string bean, as her father used to say.

She struggles for another moment before he relents, standing and helping her up off of the couch.  They grab their pizza and then everybody gathers around the TV, Marian squashed onto the couch with Anders, Sebastian, and Bela while Fenris and Merrill sit on the floor.

“You know what would be a good idea?” Sebastian pipes up while they sit through previews for movies that have been out for years, “A double decker couch.”

“That’s an awful idea,” Anders says, “How would you see if you were sitting on the bottom?”

“ _Shh_ ,” admonishes Merrill, “The movie’s about to start!”

They only have silence for another thirty seconds, at which point Sebastian speaks again:

“Why is this scene of the owl flying so _long_?”

This time everybody shushes him in unison.

 _Labyrinth_ is actually one of Hawke’s favorite movies, and she doesn’t get why Anders made such a big deal (well.  A big deal in the group chat; he never actually complained to her face) about it.  At least until David Bowie comes onscreen in his gray leggings.

Sebastian makes a _noise_ , and she doesn’t know what the noise means but it’s very interesting, and when she looks at him he’s blushing bright red and very valiantly trying to look at anywhere except David Bowie’s crotch.  And then she looks at Anders and _he’s_ blushing as well, except not even trying to hide the fact that he’s looking at Bowie’s package.  Bela’s doing the same as Anders, minus the blushing.

“Marian,” whispers Sebastian, “Is this what Anders was going on about?”

She nods.  Anders makes a strangled noise.  “God,” he says, and either he doesn’t realize or doesn’t care that he’s just used the Lord’s name in vain in front of two devout Catholics, “It’s even more impressive than I remember.”

“I think I’m going to have to pray,” Sebastian says.  “A lot.”

Marian laughs.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

After the movie they sit in silence for a moment, those who haven’t seen the movie before still trying to process _what the hell_ they just watched, and those who have seen it before either lamenting or celebrating the life choices that have led them to this.

“I’m going to have _As the World Falls Down_ stuck in my head for weeks,” Anders complains, breaking the silence.  Various noises of agreement fall from the lips of their group.

“You know what we should do?  We should play Never Have I Ever.”

It’s Bela’s idea because of _course_ it is, anything vaguely sexual is always Bela’s idea.

“I don’t drink,” Sebastian says, which isn’t a surprise because he’s a priest.  Marian bets that he’s going to win anyway because, again, he’s a _priest_.

“I have grape juice,” she offers, then, “Are we using wine or vodka?”

Marian has coconut vodka and raspberry vodka, and so she sets them on the table and grabs the bottle of grape juice for Sebastian.

“I don’t have mouth herpes,” she assures him, which makes Anders snort and Bela burst out laughing.  Sebastian doesn’t quite smile, but she can see it pulling at the edges of his lips.

“Me first!” Merrill declares, putting her hand up in the air.  “Never have I ever kissed a girl.”

 _Everybody_ at the table takes a shot.  Even Marian, which makes Anders look at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Mare?”

She shrugs.  “Eleventh grade.  I was on the debate team.  I won a debate for us and ended up kissing one of the other girls – then I had to confess that I’d kissed a girl at church that weekend.”

Fenris is next, and he purses his lips for a moment before saying, “Never have I ever killed a man.”

Bela and Merrill both take a shot; Sebastian looks reasonably horrified.

“It was an accident!” Merrill assures them, “I kicked him too hard and he went back too far and just… off the edge of the building!”

“It was on purpose,” Bela confesses.  “Sorry, Father.”

Sebastian sighs, but it’s his turn.  “Never have I ever kissed a man.”

Once again, the entire table takes a shot.

“You know,” says Isabela, “This raspberry vodka is quite delicious.”

Bela has to think for a good long while about what to say, and during the pause Marian ends up playing with the ends of Anders’ blond hair.

“Never have I ever lost a game of poker.”

“Fuck you, Bela,” Marian mumbles as she drinks.  Her boyfriend laughs because he’s an asshole.  He’s the biggest asshole.  Look at those brown eyes and that soft hair and his _unfairly attractive_ nose.  Honestly, noses shouldn’t be that nice.  It’s a nose!  Why is it so nice?  And he has _freckles_ , just a couple on his cheeks, and that’s not fair either.  Asshole.

She punches Anders in the arm.

“What was that for?” he asks her, sounding deeply offended by the apparently uncalled for violence.

“You’re cute and it’s unfair,” she grumbles.  “Stop it.”

He laughs.  “Sorry, Mare.”

And he calls her _Mare_ because she told him to, because she didn’t want to tell him her real name but now the nickname’s stuck and every time he does it she’s reminded of her father, because her father used to call her Mare and her father had long hair and her father was a kind man with steel in his heart –

And now there are tears in her eyes.  _Fuck_.

“Are you alright?” Merrill asks.  Hawke sniffs and blinks, nodding.

“Never have I ever been fucked in the ass,” Anders says.  Hawke almost chokes on nothing at the bluntness of the statement.  Bela tosses back a shot, which doesn’t surprise her, but then Fenris takes a drink – and then _Sebastian_ takes a drink.  Next to her, Anders claps a hand over his mouth to stifle a sudden laugh.  Sebastian is bright red.

“Holy _fuck_ ,” Marian manages to wheeze out, then, just to get her point across: “ _Holy fuck_.”

“I wasn’t always a priest,” Sebastian says, and the poor man’s embarrassment is making his accent _very_ pronounced.  “I _did_ have a life before the church.”

“A fun one, apparently,” says Bela, then, “Wait.  You’ve never kissed a boy – does that mean you had a _girl_ pegging you?”

Sebastian blushes.  “I don’t have to answer that.”

Bela looks to Marian.  “We’re playing truth or dare next time.”

By the time everyone leaves, it’s nearly eleven and they’re all quite drunk.  Except for Sebastian, who promises to escort everyone home before heading back himself.

“Anders,” Marian says, grabbing at her boyfriend’s hand, “Stay the night?”

He turns to look at her, and for one dumb sappy moment she swears that there are stars in his eyes.  “For you?” he says, pulling her close, “Anything, love.”

They don’t _do_ anything except kiss a little (a lot) and eat some ramen that takes them far too long to make.  When they’ve sobered up a _little_ and drank a few glasses of water each, they head to bed.  As she drifts off to sleep in his arms, Marian fancies that her father is looking down on her and thinking _nice one, Mare.  Men like him are a rare find indeed._

She smiles as she lets sleep overcome her.  Anders is here, and she’s home.

**Author's Note:**

> Anders' very dramatic response to the news of them watching Labyrinth was inspired by my best friend (thanks, Sarah).
> 
> Am I going to write the truth or dare game? Maybe B)


End file.
